MemInfo

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Editors' Review

MemInfo lets users keep an eye on their computer's memory at all times. It gives a real-time look into the workings of computer systems. With ease and subtlety, MemInfo is a great tool for memory hogs.

The program's interface is so basic it doesn't matter that there is no Help file. There is basically no interaction here: users just view the statistics of their memory. What few commands there are operate quite simply. MemInfo embeds itself into the user's system tray and stays there. To view its information, users simply scroll over the small icon. A small information box opens and displays physical memory as megabytes (MB), percentage of memory used, and page file in MB. The icon also changes colors to warn users. It stays green under 65 percent usage, turns yellow above 65 percent, and red at 95 percent. The program's finest feature is undoubtedly the defragmenter that can be utilized by right-clicking. Here, users can free up a lot of memory just by clicking a button.

By staying simple, and offering great information at a glance, this freeware program will be a favorite of users who are obsessed with their memory usage.

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Publisher's Description

MemInfo displays the current memory (RAM or Page File) usage of Windows in the system tray. With a small gauge graphic and the value updated in real time, MemInfo gives a fast feedback to current memory usage in Windows. It is highly customizable. Choose when MemInfo should warn you about high memory usage, show physical memory or Windows page file, show free or used memory, choose the font that looks better.

What's new in this version:

Version 3.33 added support for Windows 8.1, added a new option to double click tray icon: Show Windows Shutdown Dialog, added an option to show the process name instead of the module (eg: "mspaint.exe" or "Paint").

Works, sits as a small icon in the tray, warns if your memory get too low, and does not seem to affect computer performance.

I've been using this program since about March this year and it sits quietly in the tray.

Cons

None so far

Summary

I originally got this program when my parents gave me an old computer and I wanted to monitor the memory usage to see how often it ran out of memory. It turned out that with 512mb of memory the computer was constantly maxing out, now I have upgraded to the maximum the motherboard can support and meminfo just runs quietly in the background.

I've never really thought of uninstalling this little program because it's very handy to know when you've opened a few too many programs and wondering why you computer is slower than a granny driving a car on Sunday, and meminfo is so small and elegant you forget about it if all is well, kind of like how you forget about the potatoes you bought a year ago in the cupboard slowly decomposing until you start wondering what that funny smell is. In fact it's exactly like that.

Small foot print allows constant monitoring of memory (real, and page) usage and with the added feature of being able to defragment memory when usage becomes excessively high. Great for preventing slowdowns and lockups.

Cons

None that I have found.

Summary

Microsoft should have included these memory monitoring and management tools in the operating system in the first place. Excellent free tool to fill Microsoft's omission.

* ONLY monitors memory -- go elsewhere to monitor other resources
* Early adoptor -- use at your own risk but so far no apparent problems

Summary

This is a perfect example of well-executed utility minimalizm. MemInfo generates a crisp, clean highly configurable icon in your Windows system tray that reveals actual memory utilization via two objects -- the first is a small, standard fill-bar graphic and the second a number, e.g., #MB or % of memory used out of total. This utility ONLY monitors memory -- but IMO does that perfectly.

Also includes a memory defrag (on demand -- you have to click to execute) -- I haven't used or tested that yet. Perhaps someone else can comment on that.

I downloaded 1/2 dozen other utilities including TinyResMeter (which i liked but which broke after I upgraded from 2GB to 3GB -- ?), CPU and RAM Resource Meter (unusual "MPH" like dials - kinda cool, kinda odd), FreeMeter (doesn't report correct total mem), MKN MemoryMonitor (accurate and includes a very detailed running graphic for memory use, but renders a large dialogue box -- NOT what i was looking for), etc. It was kind of frustrating because i was really looking for something small and simple that provided a simple visualization w/o my having to, say, open Task Manager, etc. I was almost ready to write the utility myself.

No cons for the utility itself but I was a bit nervous about being an early adopter so proceed at your own risk but so far I'm very happy with it and there's no apparent problems. Also, pass on this if you're looking to also monitor other Windows system resources -- this ONLY monitors memory utilization.

Bottom Line: Those who know me know that I'm not prone to hyperbole, but this utility was *exactly* what I was looking for -- a clean visualization to keep me updated on memory utilization. No more, no less. Frankly, I wish I didn't have to worry about this at all but I'm a power use and this is Windows, right? :-)

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Full Specifications

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What's new in version 3.33

Version 3.33 added support for Windows 8.1, added a new option to double click tray icon: Show Windows Shutdown Dialog, added an option to show the process name instead of the module (eg: "mspaint.exe" or "Paint").